Exploring...

Praise the Lord! Most of us had a better shift on Tuesday night. Thank you for your prayers.

Our team had a nice time together over breakfast on Tuesday morning.  All 7 of us were together. You could feel the heaviness over our group. The culture shock and experiences have begun to catch up with many of us.  We spent time together on Tuesday morning sharing, crying and praying together. It was just what we all needed.

After breakfast, Perry spent some time at the Hope for Art project, visiting with Abdallah. A few others joined me to visit One Happy Family. This ministry is like a local "Y" for the POCs. It's really a community center that offers English classes, library, gym, space to play, make pottery, they have yoga and sports ministry, a garden...so many things for the POCs to explore and learn various crafts and trades. Honestly, as soon as I stepped foot on the grounds, my heart was lifted. It really was a happy place...a sweet respite for the POCs to take a break. The center is run by close to 60 POCs and 20 other international volunteers. They do have opportunities for volunteers to serve. They need to be at least for a 3 week minimum. I need to do more research but this place could have some potential for us to get plugged in to.

 

 

  

 

  

 

  

My evening shift at camp was a good one. I was involved in new arrivals again, handing out meals and packing bags for new arrivals. Work was steady and time went pretty quickly. Some of the others did some clean up work, census work and then guarding the gates in the women and minor boys areas.

We were thankful to learn that we have a day off on Wednesday. 

Wednesday morning

Wednesday morning started with me sharing breakfast with Kevin and Barb. Then, Sarah and I went to a nearby town to hike. We invited two of the girls we had worked with the night before--Sharita (from South Carolina) and Silvia (from Holland). We had heard of a beautiful hike at Mt. Olympos, in the nearby town of Agiasos.  It was strenuous, but beautiful. It took about 1.5 hours to hike up and an hour to come back down. It was about 4.5 miles. It was awesome--just what I needed! I'll let these pictures speak for themselves. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in town when we finished.

  

  

  

   

  

  

  

 

 

 

  

  

  

Not sure what everyone else did for most of the day--Kevin and Eric relaxed in town, and LH and Perry took the bus to Mytilene.  Barb had to go in for her shift around noon today. The six of us plan to regroup together tonight over dinner in Mytilene.

It's hard to believe we only have two more shifts left at camp. These two weeks have been full of so many thoughts and emotions. I'm hopeful that in the next two days before going in for the evening shift that I'm able to connect with one more ministry. The person I've reached out to is currently in Athens and has said that if they are back in town before Friday, they will reach out to me (since we fly out on Saturday morning). Please pray that this connection comes together.

Tuesday was a much better day for everyone. Thank you for your prayers. Barb continues to improve. Eric is battling a cold now. Kevin may be on the verge of a cold too. Please continue to pray for strength and health for everyone. The amount of people in the camp and the conditions definitely create the opportunity for much sickness and germs. And, some of the longer days begin to add up. Another reason we were thankful for a day off today.

Looking forward to sharing more with each of you when I'm back home.

The need is great...

On Monday morning, Sarah and I went for a jog and then stopped to see the sunrise and spent some time in prayer together.

We had our team meeting over breakfast. It was good to all be together again.  We are enjoying learning to know each other better and sharing our personal testimonies. We have definitely become a close knit family.

After breakfast, me, Perry, Kevin and Eric visited Hope for Art Project, another ministry serving POCs in the area. They offer a space for POCs to come to paint, crochet, and relax. They \also have a clothing distribution, barber shop, woman's salon and woman's gym. It is really a beautiful and peaceful respite for POCs to go.  I had hopes that maybe they would need some volunteers, but it is all run by POCs. This is also a beautiful thing.

 

 

We were happy to visit for a bit. Perry (the artist) was in his glory. We had some great conversations with some of the POC artists. The paintings are available to purchase. I saw one of a butterfly, painted by Abdallah. He shared how the painting represented freedom. I planned to purchase it, and then a team member took it from my hands to purchase for me. What a gift to be blessed with.

We worked the evening shift - 4-12.  Our shifts have not always been so busy. As you can imagine, that is a struggle for us as westerners. We are trying to embrace the opportunities we are given and look for ways to minister and share with the POCs as we can.

I worked in new arrivals again. The first task for me was to pack 300+ meals for the minor boys, single women and single women with children. Each bag contained 2 pieces of bread, 2 tomatoes, 2 spinach rolls and 2 hard boiled eggs. There had been 600 meals ordered, but not everyone came. So there was so much leftover food. We are not to give out extra food (this could cause a mob or riots). So, instead, we put a few boxes of food out at a time, inside the caged-in area outside of new arrivals. We stacked them high enough so that POCs could reach the items through a small hole cut in the gate. I kept stacking leftovers out there, each time everything was gone within 5 minutes. It felt so wrong to have to have them reach through a cage to get food.

Then I packed new arrival bags like the other night.

This shift was a hard one. Really struggling with the sadness and heaviness of it all. I understand (I think) why things have to be done the way they are at camp (for protection against riots, mobs, etc., due to the amount of people there), but all of it seems so, almost inhumane. When the bags of clothing (new arrival stuff) or food are handed out, it is done so quickly, without much conversation or smile. A door is opened, something is handed out, and the door is closed again so quickly.

Wouldn't Jesus visit with them more? Would Jesus be concerned about the window of time for food delivery?

After helping with the new arrivals, I joined the rest of our team in the women's section to help guard gates for the remainder of the night. While I was there, I was asked to sit inside a room where they were showing a movie for the women and children. My role...to be sure nobody took the laptop and projector. Yep. Really. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to watch a movie. It was "Mulan," always a good one to watch.

The rest of the team (Eric, Perry, Sarah and LH) worked on some housing tasks until 8:30 when gate guarding duty starts. Then, Eric and Perry were able to use their gifts again--Eric playing ball with the minor boys and Perry sketching and drawing with others. LH was able to have a few conversations in Arabic with some women. Sarah and I did not have many conversations with other women.

Pray for encouragement for the team. The heaviness of this is starting to set in with some of them more than others. It is really emotionally taxing on some. Pray the the girls on our team could come up with something creative to be able to do with the women at camp when we are guarding the gates (so we aren't just sitting there). If there would be a way we could draw in some conversations, we would love that. Pray for creative ideas for us.

Later this morning (Tuesday) I'll be visiting another ministry in the area. Please pray for me to have a clear mind to understand the vision and mission of the organization. Continue to pray for discernment and wisdom as I continue to gather information to take back to the office in the US.

Thanks for your prayers. We feel them. We are also soaking up much beauty in the midst of this sadness. That also creates many emotions--just the vast difference of the two "worlds" we are living in here.

Sunday Afternoon Drive

We had the day off on Sunday. It was lovely.

For the first time since I've been here, I was able to get up and go for a run. It was a much needed stress reliever from all of the emotional stress we are carrying here. The island of Lesvos is beautiful. Full of many beautiful Greek people and POCs (we call refugees people of concern). Got to see a beautiful sunrise.

Enjoyed a delicious greek yogurt with fruit, honey and walnuts for breakfast after my run. So good!

Some sites around the island during my run.

It was nice to be able to have some of my first alone time since getting here. Since church starts at 11, it gave me a few hours with me and Jesus, some exercise and space to breathe and take in the beauty around me.

We went to Oasis for church. After church, as people were visiting, Mina (the young lady I met last week at church) saw me in the distance and ran over to greet me with a hug and some kisses. It blessed my heart that she looked for me and found me. I had prayed with her the week before. She doesn't speak much English, but I was able to share Jesus' love with her. Please continue to pray for Mina, that the Holy Spirit would reveal the true Jesus to her through dreams and others she meets.

Our team was all together today for the first time in a few days too.  Barb is still battling sickness but seems to be on the upswing. 

We took a Sunday afternoon drive to explore some of the island. I was leading the way, heading to Molyvos, where the life jacket graveyard is.

I'm driving the car ahead...

En route to Molyvos, we took time to pull over for photos as anyone saw an image they wanted to capture. We stopped at a Monastery on the way. I remembered this from my trip in February. They have a cafe there that serves some yummy doughnuts. Of course, we had to have some.

 

We continued on our way to the life jacket graveyard. This is where all of the life jackets accumulated after the refugee crisis hit in 2015. It seems like this has become the town junkyard now. But, it is a very somber location, when you think of all of the lives represented and the stories that each jacket could tell. While it's sad to see, we need to remember that this pile actually represents lives that were saved, not lost (in the physical sense). It also represents the many lost souls here who need Jesus.

After stopping to see the life jacket graveyard, we drove to a nearby castle. Unfortunately, we just missed the closing time by 15 minutes, so we couldn't go inside. Here are some of the views from there.

 

We got back into town around 7 pm and had dinner together at a local restaurant. We invited Kristopher (Kris) to join us. We had met him at camp. He served here a few years ago and came back this time on his own to serve a little over a month. He's an amazing young man, seeking direction from God on the next steps he should go. He has a heart for the nations and POC's specifically. It was fun to get to know him more and hear his journey. Pretty sure we will be hanging out with him more this week when we can. He is actually serving with Eurorelief as shift coordinator. I believe he will be on our shift a few days this week when we work 4-12.

Now that we've been here a week, I finally feel somewhat normal, sleeping and getting up at a reasonable hour. On Monday morning, Sarah and I went for a jog and saw another sunrise. Then we spent some time praying together. It was a sweet morning.  Our team met for brunch and sharing. Most of us are working the same shift as Barb this week (4-12). Kevin, however, is working the overnight shift (12-8). 

We are still working out how to juggle cars and pick up times, etc., but it's working out. Since I will have some time during the day this week before going into camp, I'm looking to explore several other local ministries in the area working with POC's. Pray that I am able to make connections and appointments as I research other opportunities here. Pray that as I bring back information to the US, the organization is able to discern best ways we can minister and serve in this area.

I plan to explore some English teaching options, sports ministry, art and music ministry. I appreciate your prayers for great connections with those serving here.

Personally, I am still wrestling with many of the feelings I experienced when I was here in February. How did I (and many of YOU reading this) have the opportunity to be born in the US rather than a more difficult, challenging country? We didn't have a choice in the matter. Many of these POCs didn't have a choice either. So many of these POCs are businessmen, entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers...all well-educated people, who gave up everything to protect their family. We've heard of so many stories of these people who were wealthy and had huge homes and businesses and fled for their lives and are now living in a small ISO box or tent.  It just doesn't seem fair. I know God is good. I know He is in control. I know as crazy as it sounds, many of the POCs are here because they are hoping for a better place for their family. I just wish there was more I could do.

Please pray that as we are on the 4-12 shift, we have many God-ordained times to interact with the POCs. Pray that we would be sensitive to the Spirit and be obedient in what God asks of us. Pray for opportunities to pray with the POCs. We cannot evangelize, but we CAN share our own stories of hope. We know we cannot change everything in the 2 short weeks we are here, but we can plant seeds that can continue to be nurtured by the long-term workers here.

Thanks for following along and praying for us.